Yes Cuban Cigars are rather expensive...and yes Communinism is still evil.
Canada embarks on Capitalism just as much as many first world countries! That's a good thing. Unfortunatly though we are not close to "pure capitalism"(a concept learned in Economic courses) which is a point of elasticity in our market that hasen't been reached.

Thank God we're not pure capitalist. I'm too young to shoot myself in the head. You do realize, of course, that if Capitalism is ever allowed to get to the pure form, we'll all be slaves to Microsoft, right?

Communism is evil, in practice, but in theory, it's very good. We're more capitalist than communist, but we're not as capitalist as other countries.

Allow me to draw the economic spectrum for you... actually, on second thought, ASCII spectrums are hard, so I'm going to do it in paint and upload it. Give me a second.

EDIT: OK, here we go:

[image=http://at60.homestead.com/files/spectrum.JPG]

As you can see here, Japan is the most Capitalist country in the world. The United States is #2. N. Korea is the most Communist, followed by Cuba. Canada is right of centre, just slightly left of the mixed economy mark. This is based on 1999 data, so with the Republicans in power, the USA has swung somewhat to the right. Canada, still under Liberal leadership, has remained stable.

Personally, I don't like being a slave of the government or big business, so I'm neither right nor left. In the words of the greatest Prime Minister Canada has ever had, "we are in the extreme centre. The radical middle." I think we're just right the way we are. The Socialist policies of the NDP would cost the government too much money, and the capitalist policies of the Alliance are too oppressive to the little guy. It is my attitude that if you want to be left wing, move to China. If you want to be right wing, move to the USA. If you want to have a blend of the good qualities of each system, stay in Canada.

P.S. - LL, to avoid confusion: when I talk about Canada being centre, it means more left wing than the Democrats, but not communist. When I talk about the right wing in Canada, it means something similar to the left wing in the USA. It's all relative. To me, the Democrats are right wing extremists, and the Republicans are right wing fanatics. To you, the democrats are strongly left wing, and we're probably seen as being fanatics, or communists.

Capitalism is one of the things that makes our nation great. Some very popular books in the University that are read in the Business college, "Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith(Father of economics), or anything from Milton Friedman, Economics Nobel Prize Winner 1978. There are also a series of great videos from Milton Friedman.
The six tapes are 1.(Lecture 2, Myths that Conceal Reality 2) Lecture 3, Is Capitalism Humane 3) Lecture 4 The Role of Government in a Free Society: 4) Lecture 10, The economics of Medical Care. 5) Lecture 14 Equality and Freedom in the Free Enterprise System: 6) Free to Choose Vol 1 The power of the Market. Introduction by that great Austrian Economist & Body Builder, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

After watching any of those tapes or reading those books it is clear to see why Capitalism is superior. I don't have enough room on the board to write the papers I have written on this subject. The easiest way is just to take the tried and untrue methos of communism. Communist governments fall flat on their faces. It is a system that is doomed to "doing itself in."
One other note: Pure Capitalism takes into account Monopolization(ie. Microsoft) and actually a Monopoly works against pure capitalism. The definition of Capitalism..Market Economy that provides for private ownership of production and encourages entrepreneurship by offering profits as an incentive.
What a wonderful thing to be in a society where you work hard , be clever about your choices and make a great life for yourself. Capitalism gives us that. The majority of the USA millionaires are self-made. Through their ingenous of ideas and hard work, persistence and intelligence they succeeded in their own businesses. I think that's awesome!

As for fanatics they exist everywhere. Whether you are a left-wing fanatic chaining yourself to a tree or a right-wing extremist they can be in any country. I really don't see Canada as being as liberal as you say, you certainly don't have the same policies as the Netherlands, and you aren't like the USA either. Maybe somewhere in the middle.

You want to know what really is opressing? constant taxation from the litte guy(you and me) to pay for social programs that never work. And we all know taxing is a reputation leftists have had for a long time!(At least in the US)

I luvvv this topic. It's my major(Finance/Business adm.) at the University!

The definition of Capitalism..Market Economy that provides for private ownership of production and encourages entrepreneurship by offering profits as an incentive.

In theory, yes. In practice, no. Just like Communism, capitalism doesn't work the way it's supposed to. Without government intervention, huge corporations such as Microsoft have nothing stopping them from getting bigger and bigger. As they do this, they gain more and more power and influence over the economy, and it becomes harder and harder for smaller businesses to exist, or for people to even start them.

you certainly don't have the same policies as the Netherlands, and you aren't like the USA either. Maybe somewhere in the middle.

I never said we're as left wing as the Netherlands. They're around the middle of that spectrum that I posted, as far as I know.

You want to know what really is opressing? constant taxation from the litte guy(you and me) to pay for social programs that never work. And we all know taxing is a reputation leftists have had for a long time!(At least in the US)

Never work? What makes you think so? I'm more than happy to pay taxes, because I know it's going to a good cause. Paying taxes to me is like giving to charity.

Never work? What makes you think so? I'm more than happy to pay taxes, because I know it's going to a good cause. Paying taxes to me is like giving to charity

Well would you like to pay mine?
-Again I am speaking about the USA because I don't know the situation in Canada, but alot of social programs go to waste. The whole reform on welfare in this country happened because the Republicans pushed it through in Congress even though Clinton was President. Welfare was a MESS before then, encouraging laziness, people sitting on their a***** while I work extremly hard to help cut and pay their welfare check- No thank you. Luckily the new policy makes people work after 2 years, and that's better. One of the main problem is we keep pumping money into programs, like inner cities for example. The problem lies with a "learned helplessness"(A behavorial term) syndrome. The people themselves need to change. All the money in the world won't change the fact there is a huge percentage of children growing up without fathers in a certain sub-culture in our society. It is a deep rooted issue with lots of money being thrown in and no solutions coming out.

I believe in charitable contributions, but I should be able to choose where my own money should go.

One thing that would really boost the economy right now? Give tax credits on investments. That will establish more investments in companies and companies investing in growth potential. That would really give our ecomony a boost! I also think there is WAY too much taxation on businesses small and large. Did you know small businesses can face up to triple taxation? Corporations, double taxation? Protecting our businesses, protects us. We all are affected by business as we are a part of it. Give tax cuts to businesses, help the citizens and help the economy!!